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Well, that didn't take long. Apple's iPhone 5S came out last week, with a new Touch ID fingerprint sensor built into the Home button. Shortly thereafter, Nick DePetrillo (@NickDe) tweeted this challenge: "I will pay the first person who successfully lifts a print off the iPhone 5s screen, reproduces it and unlocks the phone in < 5 tries $100." His istouchidhackedyet.com/ website invited others to post their own offers. Now, less than a week later, the collective reward of bucks, bitcoins, and booze has been claimed.

And the Winner Is... In a blog post dated last Saturday, Germany's venerable Chaos Computer Club announced that their biometrics hacking team had successfully unlocked an iPhone 5s using a fake fingerprint. "A fingerprint of the phone user, photographed from a glass surface, was enough to create a fake finger that could unlock an iPhone 5s secured with Touch ID," the post said. "This demonstrates – again – that fingerprint biometrics is unsuitable as access control method and should be avoided."

DePetrillo announced very specific criteria for claiming the bounty: "All I ask is a video of the process from print, lift, reproduction and successful unlock with reproduced print." While the CCC video demonstration didn't precisely match those conditions, DePetrillo accepted it as proof.

Tallying the BootyThe winner of the loot, who goes by the name Starbug, plans to give it to a CCC spinoff called Raumfahrtagentur. I calculated just what Starbug would get if every participant actually came through with the promised payment. The cash total would be $8,364.01, 100 euros, and the bitcoin equivalent of another $2,779 or so. Other random offerings include seven bottles of wine and liquor, a free patent application for the technique, and a "dirty sex book."

An offer of $10,000 appeared briefly, but was taken down shortly before the hack news broke. A handful of those offering cash actually put the money in escrow; those amounts are guaranteed to be paid. At the very least, Starbug will get $900 and 0.661 bitcoins. Want to participate in the crowdfunded reward? You still can do so by tweeting your offer (minimum $50 or 0.4 bitcoin) to @IsTouchIdHacked.

Confirmed by LookoutMark Rogers, a researcher at San Francisco-based Lookout Security, also managed to hack Touch ID and posted full details yesterday. Despite the fact that he managed to hack it, Rogers still thinks Touch ID is "awesome."

Rogers points out that hacking Touch ID is no easy matter. It "relies upon a combination of skills, existing academic research and the patience of a Crime Scene Technician" to produce a fake fingerprint. Even if you have the necessary skills, it's no simple matter. "It is a lengthy process that takes several hours and uses over a thousand dollars worth of equipment including a high resolution camera and laser printer." His technique created the print on a copper-clad board, while CCC used a transparency. To actually unlock a phone, he had to stick the fake fingerprint to a damp finger.

Convenient SecurityWhy is Touch ID still awesome? Rogers points out that at present half of all iPhone users don't even use a simple PIN, because it's not convenient. Touch ID, on the other hand, is the epitome of convenience. Pressing the Home button is something you already do; adding fingerprint authentication to the process doesn't require any extra actions.

What Rogers would really like to see is two-factor authentication—Touch ID plus a passcode, for example. He envisions a system where you'd, say, log into your bank with a fingerprint, but enter a passcode in order to actually make a transaction. I have to agree. Fingerprint authentication is flawed, four-digit PIN authentication is flawed, but the two together make for better security.

Early descriptions of Touch ID made it sound like the technology would only work with a real, live finger or thumb. The fact that a lifted print can fool it makes me wonder if we spoke too soon when we said a severed thumb would not work. But I'm not sure I want to hear any details about research aimed in that direction.

Neil Rubenking served as vice president and president of the San Francisco PC User Group for three years when the IBM PC was brand new. He was present at the formation of the Association of Shareware Professionals, and served on its board of directors. In 1986, PC Magazine brought Neil on board to handle the torrent of Turbo Pascal tips submitted by readers. By 1990, he had become PC Magazine's technical editor, and a coast-to-coast telecommuter. His "User to User" column supplied readers with tips...
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